Tongue (song)
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2008-06-20T13:13:46Z
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{{Infobox Single | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name = Tongue
| Cover = Remtongue.jpg
| Artist = [[R.E.M.]]
| from Album = [[Monster (album)|Monster]]
| Released = {{start date|1995|10|21}}
| Format = [[Single (music)|CD single]], [[Single (music)|7" single]], [[Compact audio cassette|Cassette]]
| Recorded = 1994
| Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| Length = 4:08
| Label = [[Warner Bros.]]
| Producer = [[Scott Litt]] & R.E.M.
| Chart position =
* #13 <small>([[United Kingdom|UK]])</small>
| Last single = "[[Crush with Eyeliner]]"<br/>(1995)
| This single = "'''Tongue'''"<br/>(1995)
| Next single = "[[E-Bow the Letter]]"<br/>(1996)
{{Extra tracklisting
| Album = [[Monster (album)|Monster]]
| Type = studio
| prev_track = "'''[[Strange Currencies]]'''"
| prev_no = 6
| this_track = "'''Tongue'''"
| track_no = 7
| next_track = "'''[[Bang and Blame]]'''"
| next_no = 8
}}}}
"'''Tongue'''" was the fifth and final [[Single (music)|single]] to be released by [[R.E.M.]] from the band's ninth studio album ''[[Monster (album)|Monster]]''. It was only released in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. In the song, lead singer [[Michael Stipe]] performs in [[falsetto]]; he has stated several times he is in fact supposed to be a girl in the song. Stipe has also said the track is "all about [[cunnilingus]]."<ref name="multiple">{{cite book | first=Johnny | last=Black| coauthors= | title=Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. | publisher=Backbeat Books | location=London | year=2004 | editor= | id=ISBN 0-87930-776-5}}</ref> However, in July 1995 at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England, Stipe said "This song is not about giving head to a woman..." before the performance; this may have been done as an inside joke.
On [[March 1]] [[1995]], [[Bill Berry]] had to leave the stage during a performance of this song complaining of a serious headache. It in fact turned out to be a [[Cerebral aneurysm|brain aneurysm]], and is the likely reason for his leaving the band in October [[1997]]. On subsequent dates Berry admitted that it gave him an eerie feeling every time the band performed "Tongue". {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
The single's [[music video|video]], directed by [[Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris]], shot during the soundcheck prior to the band's [[June 20]], [[1995]] performance at the [[Knickerbocker Arena]] in [[Albany, New York|Albany]], [[New York]],<ref>[http://members.iinet.net.au/~darryl74/1995.html R.E.M. Timeline - 1995 Concert Chronology<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> shows a group of teenagers in a living room watching the band perform on [[TV]]. It was included as a bonus video on the [[DVD]] release of ''[[In View - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003]]''.
The three live songs that make up the CD single's B-sides were performed on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.
==Track listing==
All songs written by [[Bill Berry]], [[Peter Buck]], [[Mike Mills]], and [[Michael Stipe]]
===UK/DE CD Single===
# "Tongue" – 4:08
# "[[What's the Frequency, Kenneth?]]" (Live) – 4:04
# "[[Bang And Blame]]" (Live) – 4:52
# "[[I Don't Sleep, I Dream]]" (Live) – 3:48
===7" US Single===
# "Tongue" (Album version) – 4:09
# "Tongue" (Live) – 4:34
===7" and Cassette UK Single===
# "Tongue" (Album version) – 4:09
# "Tongue" (Instrumental version) – 4:09
* "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," "Bang And Blame" and "I Don’t Sleep, I Dream" recorded live at [[Saturday Night Live]] appearance, [[New York, New York]], on [[November 12]] [[1994]].
* "Tongue" recorded live at [[Detroit, Michigan]] on [[June 7]] [[1995]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.remhq.com/shared_assets/videography/videos/tongue.html Video clip at REMhq.com]
{{R.E.M.}}
[[Category:1994 singles]]
[[Category:R.E.M. songs]]
[[it:Tongue]]